Don't Touch That!
by WhispersXinXtheXWind
Summary: Now changed to vague non-named third person. Al should've listened to granny Pinako. "Really? Why did you pick that up off the street!"
1. Chapter 1

**Authoress' Note: So, I'm changing this to third person view. I was placed on some stupid community thing that is either going to report me for doing reader inserts and then probably get all my work deleted. So, to screw them over, I'm turning my stuff to third person. So HA to them! The reader is going to be nameless. **

Rush Valley, the place every automail fanatic gathers to, is where Edward, Alphonse, and Ed' girlfriend are currently located. It's a regular day, meaning that swarms of people are gathered in the many shops and among the streets.

"I still don't understand how these people can be so obsessed with automail," she tells Ed, squeezing by a few pedestrians without losing sight of the male alchemist.

"I dunno," Edward says, becoming annoyed by the horde of, to put it lightly, maniacs. Grabbing her hand with his own so that she doesn't get separated, Edward soon realizes that the group is one person short. "Where'd Al disappear to?"

She shrugs and shakes her head. She's been wondering why there's been no clinking of armor following them around.

Sighing, Edward picks up the pace and continues to walk among the crowd, keeping a good grip on her hand. An idea runs through her head and she giggles, causing the blond to look at her through the corner of his eyes and wonder what's gotten into her. Deciding to put her idea into action, she lace her fingers through Ed's who, just as she predicted, turned pink in the cheeks but didn't let go. As they both finally manage to get through all the people, they hear someone call out.

"You guys!" Alphonse shouts, waving his hand at them, signaling that he wants them to go over to him. Looking over at Edward, he just shrugs and releases the grip on her hands, much to her disappointment, while he walks over to his younger brother.

Following behind Ed, she reaches Al and tilts her head to the side, wondering why the younger boy was calling them over.

"Look!"

"It's not a cat is it, Al?" Edward asks.

"Nope!" Alphonse lifts up the thing that he's found, only for the two to give a scream of terror.

"Dude! It's a dead hobo! Didn't Granny Pinako teach you NOT to touch a dead hobo!" she shouts, pointing at the person Al's holding up.

"That's the thing, though! He's not dead!" Al says while Ed and his girlfriend share a look before cautiously walking closer to Al and the stranger. Once they approach, she hears the man give a groan, what she can assume is a groan, but it's actually coming from his stomach.

The stranger raises his head as far as it can go before stating a weak, "So hungry..."

She looks to Ed and Al before she turns her attention back to the "hobo", as he's been dubbed.

"I have a feeling that this isn't going to be nice to your wallet, Ed."


	2. Chapter 2

"So, your name's Ling, huh? I'm just glad you're not a hobo," she tells the now identified "hobo", Ling. He doesn't look to be much older than Edward and herself. He's wearing a yellow shirt that hangs open and white pants. On his back, she's noticed, is a sword.

'Why does a hobo need a sword?' she asks herselfr, not paying attention to anything else.

"Thanks for the food!" Ling happily states, smiling widely at Ed, who chooses a scowl as a response.

Having come back from la la land, she giggles at poor Ed's misfortune. Carefully slipping her hand under the table and grabbing a hold of his auto-mail one, she sends a grin his way. "Well," she starts, drawing three pairs of eyes to her, "it could be worse, Edward. It could've been Winry who took most of your money. She's always wanting you to buy her some kind of mechanical piece of equipment."

"You really don't need to keep reminding me of how much money I lose," Edward growls, refusing to look in her direction. 'I can't let her see me blush. I'd rather not give her the incentive to constantly try and get me flustered.'

Alphonse looks to his older brother, only to see a red hue spreading across his face. This causes the younger Elric to let out a giggle at his sibling's reactions to her holding his hand.

Ling decides to break the silence by asking, "You're alchemists, right? I bet you know all kinds of things. Things like immortality."

'Man, that's creepy,' she thinks while moving closer towards Ed until their legs are touching. Ed's hand tightens on hers and she looks at his face, noticing the small glare on his face.

'He's really trying hard to not tell Ling to get lost.'

"So, do you know anything about immortality?" Ling questions, looking between the three of them.

"Nope! We know nothing about the subject, right?" she asks, glancing between Ed and Al, hoping that they both avoid the subject , much like herself.

"Why? What would you do with that kind of information?" Edward skeptically asks, folding his arms across his chest and narrowing his eyes at Ling.

"It's simple really," Ling says, gaining their attention. "I just want to obtain immortality, that's all."

"Why would you want to do something like that? Why would you want to live forever and see war after war? Seeing the people you love die before you, could you handle that? Could you?" she asks, looking straight into the boy's eyes, waiting for some sort of response from him. After a moment of nothing from Ling, she turns her face away from him and gives a noise of disgust.

'How can someone want to live that way?' she mentally asks, taking a glance at Alphonse and think about how hard Ed's working to get his brother back to normal.

"I have my reasons for wanting immortality and I'll do anything to obtain it. No one will stand in my way," Ling states, breaking the awkward silence and sends a look their way. She's not quite sure the meaning behind the look, but Edward decides to put in his own opinion.

"Everyone has their reasons for doing things, not everyone's going to agree with those reasons, but that fact that you're looking for something like this…I'm sorry, but we can't help you." Standing up, Edward takes a hold of her hand and helps her to her feet while sending a smile her way before nodding to Al, signaling that it's time to leave.

"I don't think you understand, Nothing will stop me from obtaining immortality and I know that you three know something."


	3. Chapter 3

With a snap of his fingers, two figures come out of the shadows and lunge at Edward and Alphonse. She reaches into her front pants pocket and takes the knife into her hand, prepared to defend herself, but it seems that the two attackers only want to fight Ed and Al. She can just feel her blood pressure rising at seeing the situation unfold and she narrows her eyes.

"What! Dude, you've got to be kidding? We already said that we know nothing!" she shouts, watching as Ed and Al defend themselves against Ling's companions.

"You keep saying that, but I still don't believe you."

"Well, that's your own fault.," she says as she glances at Ling out the corner of her eyes, making sure that he's not going to try some dirty trick like he did with her friends. "What's it gonna take to convince you?"

"Nothing. There's nothing you can do. You obviously know something but you're reluctant to say anything."

Letting a sigh escape her lips, she fully turns toward Ling, a serious look on her usual cheery face. "You're right. We might know something about immortality. We're looking for something call a Philosopher's Stone. We've actually been searching for it for a long time now, but after doing some research, we found out-"

"Come on! Are you really gonna tell this guy what we found?"

She quickly turns around and sees the small glare that's on Ed's face as he and Al walk towards her. She immediately spots Ed's automail is off and he's got several scratches on his face and arm. A sheepish grin appears on her face and she just shrugs her shoulders. "Well, I wasn't going to tell him the truth."

"Now that's just mean."

"Are you seriously going to pout about it? I mean, Ed went and fed you and what do you do? You have your friends attack him and Al!"

No one says anything for several minutes after her outburst. It's true that Ed didn't have to feed Ling; he did so out of kindness. It just pisses her off that someone can be that selfish and unappreciative!

"Look," Edward speaks, breaking the silence and causing her to return from her thoughts, "we're not telling you anything. Do your own research."

The three of them turn their backs to Ling and walk away, knowing that Ling won't be trying to attack again.

"Guess we better go get your arm put back on." She smiles, getting a small grin from Ed in return.


	4. Chapter 4

"What in the world did you do to your arm?!" Winry yells, causing them all to cringe as the blonde auto-mail mechanic stands in the middle of the room.

"Winry, could you not yell in my ear?"

"I've already told you what happened! Al and I got into a fight with this guy named Ling," Edward begins to tell her, but is quickly interrupted.

"You actually didn't fight Ling. It was two people who work for him that fought the both of you."

"I was getting to that. Anyway, I -"

"I get it," Winry mumbles, not liking the idea of her childhood friends fighting. "Just go sit down and I'll get started." She grabbed Ed's arm from his hand and walked over to her tools.

Edward, mumbling about "crazy auto-mail junkies", went and took a seat near the open window to the side of the small shop.

She follows behind him, happy at the fact that the two didn't cause a huge scene like their arguments usually do.

"You know," she whispers into Ed's ear as she wrap her arms from behind him around his shoulders, "it could have been worse. She could've hit you with your own arm."

Edward sends her a blank look over his shoulder. Now that she's mentioned it, the fact that Winry didn't hit him with his arm or wrench was odd. She was oddly calm about the entire thing. Edward mentally makes a note to ask her about her sudden mood change later on.

"Try not to think about it too much," she says, leaning forward and leaving a chaste kiss on Ed's lips, to which he pouts at the briefness.

"Oh, get a room guys," Winry teases and giggles as the couple separates from one another. She sticks her tongue out at Winry while she just laughs.

"Hey, can I have my arm back on?" Ed questions Winry as a quick laugh is shared before she starts to get to work.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rush me."

"You can't rush perfection, huh?" she asks, smirking at the way Winry's face goes crimson.

"Just because you're my cousin doesn't mean that I won't hit you upside your head with my wrench," Winry threatens.

Afraid of her cousin's wrench (with good reason), she quickly scurries behind Alphonse to hide from Winry's deadly aim.

Suddenly, a smirk forms on her face and she peeks out from behind Al.

"Winry~" She sing-songs, earning and annoyed look from her cousin. "Do you remember the time that Granny asked us had happened to her screwdrivers?"

A look of recognition appears on her face, which is quickly replaced by a look of shock.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I so would."

"Would you two stop so I can have my arm back?" Ed interrupts, causing the cousins to stop and turn to look at him.

"Fine, but you know I'm charging you extra for this."

"Don't you always?"

"It's just one attack after another on your poor wallet, huh?"

The three share a quick laugh and then Winry is right back to attaching Ed's arm. She notices that Al is being strangely quiet. She walks over to him and gently places her hand on his arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Alphonse tenses up at thequestion. "Yeah, I'm-"

Mreow~

"Al, is that what I think it is?" She raises a brow at the purring that's coming from his armor.

"No."

She sighs, standing on her tiptoes and waving with her hand for Al to bend down. He does so and she gives a mental thanks. She's been on your her for several hours now and they're hurting like hell!

"You do know that you can't keep it." she whispers, not wanting Ed to hear. She quickly turns her head in Ed's direction and see that he's preoccupied with arguing with Winry at the moment.

"I know but it was calling out to me!"

"I understand how you feel, but traveling wouldn't be good for the cat. Take what happened today into account. If that cat was with us the entire time, you wouldn't be completely focused on an enemy and then you would be vulnerable."

"I understand."

"I know you do." She puts a finger to her lips and gives Al a little grin. "How about we try and find it a good place to live before we leave?"

"Really?!"

She takes a moment to stop and look at Al's face. Even though his body isn't inside, she can swear that she can see his eyes light up in happiness.

"Of course. How about we go look before Ed wakes up tomorrow morning."

"Sounds great!"

With that settled, they both turn around and watch as Winry, finally fed up with Ed's whining, smacks him over the head with her wrench.

"Knew that was coming."


	5. Chapter 5

"Sorry about being so mean, Ed," Winry apologizes, looking at the good lump on his head and watching Ed wince every now and then.

"Yeah, well, that's not going to get rid of the headache I'm going to be feeling later."

"Ed," a soft voice says, getting his attention immediately. "You shouldn't get pissy with Winry. She may have hit you, but she's your friend-"

"You don't have to finish that," Ed tells her, putting his left hand to his forehead and applying a little pressure in a weak attempt to lessen the throbbing.

If there's one thing Ed can't stand, it's being guilt tripped by his girlfriend.

"Good!" She smiles brightly at him as he quietly mutters an apology to Winry, who accepts with a grin in her face.

Al snickers in the corner as he watches the two girls make his brother seem like a child.


	6. Chapter 6

The three friends find themselves in a hotel room, which is the usual case since they're traveling.

"How the hell can Ling be a prince?! He doesn't seem like it at all!"

It's been two days since Ed's arm has been fixed and Ling decided to tell some information, including him being a prince from Xing. Ed's more focused on that fact instead of Al being goen since the couple woke up.

"Are you still going on about that?"

"What?"

She sighs, walking over to Ed and grabbing both his hands in hers.

"Seriously, let it go. So he's a prince? Big deal! He's still the hobo that Al picked up off the street!" She leans forward and places her lips lightly on his. "Stop acting like it's a big deal; he's not worth the headache right now."

Ed smiles. It doesn't surprise him that she's getting his thoughts back on track. Ever since the two of them have been kids, she's always been able to do that.

She places her forehead against his and look into his eyes. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks for that."

"No problem."

As they both lean in, the phone rings. Ed curses under his breath and stands before walking over and answering.

"What?"

She has no doubt in her mind that it's Mustang.

'He's probably calling to bug them about some research or investigating something.'

"Yeah, we'll get right on that."

Ed hangs up the phone and sighs. He turns around to face her and opens his mouth to speak, but she raises a hand before he has the chance to say anything.

"You don't really need to say it."

Ed blinks and he walks over to her, holding his hands out. She grasps his hands and he pulls her up and straight into an awaiting hug. He gently squeezes his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes, as she snuggles closer to him. "I really don't want to do anything for Mustang, but I have no choice."

"I know, and I'm not holding it against you. Whatcha got to look for?"

Ed loosens his hold a little bit and pulls back so he can look at her face.

"It's nothing major, so it won't take long to do. We've just got to look through some documents and do a little breaking and entering."

"Nice. Do I get to play lookout?"

"Hm….No. You think I'm going to let y-"

Yeah, she shuts him up with the ever-so-cliché kiss. He's not complaining though, especially when he feels her tongue run across his lower lip, asking for entrance. Just as he's about to let her in, the door slams open.

"You're not going to believe what I found!" Al exclaims, not noticing the couple break the kiss with a groan of disappointment.

She's not even embarrassed about being seen like that. Al's walked in on the two of them like that more than once and it won't be the last.

She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. "Al, the last time you found anything, it turned out to be a prince from Xing."

"Or a dirty hobo." Ed laughs and she lightly slaps his arm in retaliation.

"Ass," she mutters, earning a grin from him.

"I promise it's not another person."


	7. Chapter 7

**Authoress' Note: Generally, I wouldn't let something small get to me, but after the shit I've been through this year, I'm not gonna deal with shit anymore. So, I have decided that this is the last chapter. I know, I'm really sorry to do this, but with people going around the site and pointing out that I can't write what I want, it's getting to me. Writing is so fucking important to me. And just the fact that I can't write the way I want to, makes me shake my head at these people. Have you noticed that they don't even have anything posted? They're dicks. Thank you guys so much for all the reviews, favorites, follows, and constant support. It really means a lot~! I love you guys; you're the best!**

She jumps awake at the sound of thunder, a flash of lightning catches her attention and she looks out the window. Where was she? She looks around the room and notices that she's not in the hotel room like she thought she was. No. This is her bedroom. What is going on?

"Edward? Alphonse?" she calls out, reaching for her blanket when she notices a bruise on her arm. It hurts and it's almost like…

"No," she whispers, a lump forming in her throat. "It can't be."

Was it all just a dream? Something that her mind conjured up? How is that possible though? To have a dream that vivid, that real, and…

"And what?" she speaks aloud, throat hurting. "And feel like my heart is being ripped out of my damn chest?"

There's no one in the house, she thinks so anyway. She hasn't heard any movement but she doesn't even know what time it is. "What day is it?"

Tilting her head up a little, she looks at the wall that's behind her headboard and notices the calendar. "It's November now?"

She pushes the blanket off her legs, straining to move them over the side of the bed. What's going on? "Why am I so exhausted?"

As she lifts off the bed, she raises her left hand to her forehead, trying to stop the rush of pain. Something glimmers in the moonlight and she takes her hand from her forehead.

A gold ring is on her ring finger. It's nothing fancy, just an ordinary gold band. She takes her right hand and lightly traces the ring. "It's real?"

Just as she's about to take it off, the door to the room opens, revealing-

She jumps awake again but this time, it's not tat the sound of thunder. It's due to a hand being placed on her shoulder, a hand that's heavy and cold. She relaxes, both physically and mentally at the touch.

"You okay?" Ed asks, removing his hand and sitting next to her on the bed.

"I don't know," she quietly responds, scooting closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Bad dream?"

"More like nightmare."

Nothing more is said as Ed reaches his hand out and takes hers in his hand, lacing their fingers together.


End file.
